The politics present in the “Star Wars” saga is a contentious issue among many people. Many older fans preferred the simplistic approach employed by the original saga while others dug deep into the then-expanded universe and later the prequels that looked at the complicated politics of the galaxy and reveled in them.
More serious political analysts have criticized the initial setup of the prequels’ government. Of course, one could also argue that these elements were precisely the point. Corruption has eaten away at the core principles of democracy, allowing corporations like the Trade Federation to buy out representation.
Scandals have eroded the influence of otherwise benign rulers like Chancellor Valorum and made the people clamor for a stronger, decisive executive, who is not always attuned to their best interests. They have also become too reliant on the Jedi Order, whose security responsibilities detracted from their true purpose. The coming of war, secretly orchestrated by their own leader, made the people more keen on giving up liberty for safety, a recurrent theme that undermines even our own democracies in real life.
In the outer rim, the weak presence of government enabled the proliferation of lawlessness, which has colored the perception of one of its most notable residents, Anakin Skywalker. His frustrations with the government and its inability to protect its most vulnerable citizens was one of many things that made him fall prey to Chancellor Palpatine’s deceptions.
Throughout both the canon and legends continuities, the Republic giving in to the Empire led to the establishment of an order dedicated solely to keeping its power by playing people against each other. The racist regime put humans paramount over other races and legislated the enslavement of nonhuman dissidents. When people asked for security, all they got was more fear and oppression, thus sowing the seeds for the Rebel Alliance.
In the sequel trilogy, we also see signs of what happens when dangerous reactionary movements are treated with kid gloves and painful history gets downplayed. The First Order, a junta that reveled in a misplaced sense of nostalgia and twisted concepts of order and discipline, had began a campaign of conquest in an attempt to revive the Empire that jeopardized the unwitting New Republic once more.
Wendy Eber here, fanfiction writer, literature teacher, and creator of droid OC RT-CT. Catch more of my thoughts on the literary aspects of my favorite saga here.
Wendy Eber 
